Polar Science Education

"By showing that Arctic climate change is no longer just a problem for the polar bear, a new study may finally dispel the view that what happens in the Arctic, stays in the Arctic."

"A new animation developed by researchers at the University of Hawaii's International Pacific Research Center (IPRC) illustrates the likely path of the spreading field of debris caused by retreating waves from last year's gigantic tsunami in Japan."

"An increase in glacial meltwater atop the Matterhorn is causing large pieces of rock to tumble from the iconic Alpine mountain, a new study has found. "

"One of the most striking changes that has taken place in the Arctic since the start of satellite monitoring in 1979 is the rapid decline of the perennial sea ice cover. This ice is the sea ice that survives the summer melt season, and is typically the thickest part of the sea ice cover, sometimes spanning several years. Sea ice extent has declined as the globe has warmed, but the ice cover has thinned as well. Thinner sea ice melts more easily, and as multiyear sea ice is lost, Arctic sea ice has declined more rapidly."

"A carbon footprint is an estimate of the climate change impact of activity - such as making a product, living a lifestyle or running a company."

Climate scientists have long argued that ancient air trapped in Antarctic ice is the smoking gun that links carbon dioxide to global warming. Over the past 800,000 years or so the planet has gone through a series of ice ages interspersed with relatively warm periods (during which glaciers retreat back toward the poles) - and inevitably, these warm interludes happen when there's more CO2 in the atmosphere

How can speakers of endangered languages protect their mother tongues from dying? And does modern technology help preserve disappearing speech?

"Welcome to the National Center for Science Education's climate change education initiative. Long respected for its work in defending and supporting the teaching of evolution in the public schools, in 2012 NCSE launched this new initiative to defend and support the teaching of climate change. This section of the website includes the four main sections of the climate change education resources here."

"The following news article, Ocean Acid Threatens Food Chain, reveals some current ocean acidification research as it relates to little-known, but highly significant creatures, the Pteropods. They are tiny, exquisite, and are critical at the base of the food web. As we study the impact of ocean acidification on their delicate shells, we learn more about the potential broader implications of changing ocean chemistry."

"The Canadian permafrost community continues to be active in research initiatives to improve characterization of permafrost conditions and to provide information to better understand the impact of climate change and human activity on the northern landscape. A number of projects have been aimed at providing information that can facilitate the development of climate change adaptation strategies to minimize risk to infrastructure and to minimize environmental impacts of northern development."

Article from "Time" January 24, 2012

"Not surprisingly, it's going to be a big year for those interested in the golden era of polar exploration. Captain Robert Falcon Scott finally reached the South Pole 100 years ago this week, on 17 January 1912. "

Good summary.

Carbon counter shows the metric tons of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

CarbonTracker, a project of the U.S. government's National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration's Earth System Research Laboratory, has produced a telling time-lapse video chart of CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) concentrations starting in January of 1979 and ending in January of 2011. Measurements were taken in dozens of locations around the world (the red ball measures CO2 in Hawaii and the blue dot measures CO2 at the South Pole)

"Earth's climate is stable within limits. After small changes in temperature, the climate will remain stable, but larger changes can be dangerous....... Your task is to explore different scenarios with our Carbon/Temperature Model do draw some conclusions about what events are causing the greatest shifts."

some very interesting materials from UC Berkeley. A neat carbon footprint calculator, good articles, and generally useful reading.

"Scientists at George Mason University's Center for Ocean-Land-Atmospheric Studies are working on more accurate climate predictions that will help us plan for the future"

An online issue of Park Science Magazine, a publication of the U.S. National Parks Service. The Spring 2011 issue is dedicated to Climate Change and your Climate Stewards colleague Joe Witte is one of the authors of two of the articles: "Audience segmentation as a tool for communicating climate change: Understanding the differences and bridging the divides" and "NPS climate change talking points"